Prince of Tennis Manga Creator Takeshi Konomi Discloses He’s Unable to Walk Properly
The creator of The Prince of Tennis manga, Takeshi Konomi, revealed on his Twitter account that he hasn’t been able to attend the latest Prince of Tennis stage play because he is currently unable to walk properly on his own and is using a wheelchair. The stars of the musical production sent him a special video to encourage him and wish him well.
現在歩行困難で車椅子生活を余儀なくされテニミュを観劇出来ない私にテニミュチームからの激励動画が…涙#ミュージカルテニスの王子様4th#テニミュ4th #青学vs氷帝 pic.twitter.com/oXy9TmWDGw
— 許斐剛 (@konomi_takeshi) February 26, 2023
Konomi had to drop out of his appearance at The Prince of Tennis stage at Jump Festa 2023 due to his ill health and that he has “been suffering” for a while with some internal issues that causes some big spikes in poor health in 2022.
Despite this, Konomi still has his creative spark, showing off some of his drawings on Twitter the next day.
久々にコピックによる手塗り????
新テニスの王子様コミックス巻末企画の【決勝戦出場オーダー予想????】は正解者0名(応募総数8260通)でしたので、1番近かった方に色紙、1名違いだった9名の方にポストカード、計10名の方にそれぞれご希望の直筆イラストを描いています。完成までもうちょっと待っててね???? pic.twitter.com/RS9PFwuoOr— 許斐剛 (@konomi_takeshi) February 26, 2023
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The original Prince of Tennis manga was published in Weekly Shonen Jump from July 19, 1999, to March 3, 2008, spawning a myriad of different anime and stage adaptations. A sequel series, The Prince of Tennis II, has been running in the monthly manga magazine Jump Square since March 2009, itself inspiring anime, stages and more.
The latest anime adaptation, The Prince of Tennis II: U-17 World Cup, aired from July 7 to September 29, 2022, with Crunchyroll streaming it in English, describing the series as such:
Middle school students fought fiercely against one another in a national tournament.
Now, 50 chosen representatives return to fight again as high school students!
The stage is the U-17 (Under Seventeen) Japanese Representative Training Camp.
Middle school students have been invited for the first time to a camp known to produce the best Japanese tennis players. National champions from Seigaku, Hyotei, Rikkai, Shitenhoji… With all the rivals from the national tournament attending, everyone eagerly awaits their reunion.
At first, the middle schoolers do not expect much from their high school opponents. However, the training camp is not so easy!
Athletes with skills incomparable to those they previously faced and their mysterious coach appear before them. Faced with numerous demanding challenges, can the middle schoolers survive in this meritocratic training camp?
The new chapter of “Prince of Tennis” begins here!
The curtain rises on a new stage–
Source: Nikkan Sports
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Daryl Harding is a Senior Japan Correspondent for Crunchyroll News. He also runs a YouTube channel about Japan stuff called TheDoctorDazza, tweets at @DoctorDazza, and posts photos of his travels on Instagram.
